Today's whole duck recipe is perfect for a cosy night in, or a great idea for an alternative Christmas roast. The choice is yours.

Serves 4

Prep/cooking/resting time: 20 minutes per 500g of duck plus an extra 20 minutes and 30 minutes resting time (E.g. If your duck is 1.25kg cook for 70 minutes and then rest for 30 minutes, giving a total time of 1 hour 40 minutes)

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C, Fan 180°C, Gas Mark 6. Remove all packaging from the duck and remove the bag of giblets (if included) from the cavity. Weigh the duck. 2. Prick the skin around the duck legs and season with salt and pepper.3. Place the duck on a rack in a baking tray big enough to allow you to also fit the potatoes, and add the duck fat (or vegetable oil if you do not have duck fat). Place the duck in the oven. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes per 500g, plus 20 minutes extra. 4. Meanwhile prepare the glaze by mixing all the ingredients together and gently warm in a small pan. Then leave aside in a warm place. 5. Prepare the cabbage: peel off the leaves, discard any that may be spoilt and remove the core. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Blanche the cabbage by plunging the leaves into the boiling water and then into a pot of cold water. Drain well, slice thinly and set aside. 6. After the duck has been cooking for 45 minutes, place the potatoes into the roasting tray around the duck, then add the rosemary, garlic and cumin seeds. Baste with the duck fat and season. Turn the potatoes once during cooking. 7. Ten minutes before the end of cooking take the glaze and paint all over the duck with a pastry brush.

8. When the duck is ready, remove from the oven and carefully take out of the tray and place in a warm resting place for approximately 30 minutes. 9. Then take the potatoes from the tray and put into another roasting tray, baste with the duck fat and return to the oven to finish cooking.10. Pour off all the fat from the liquid left in the tray, and save for another cooking opportunity. 11. You should be left with just the juices to create the sauce. Pour into a saucepan and place onto the hob, bring to the boil, add a generous dollop of butter and simmer. 12. When you are ready to serve, quickly fry off the cabbage in some butter for 2-3 minutes. 13. Test the sauce for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Your meal is now ready to serve.

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Launched in September 2011, British Interior Design magazine Heart Home is a quarterly publication celebrating all that is unique and good about interior decor and lifestyle. Championing independent British Designers and inspiring readers to create their own great British Homes.

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